由于电费高涨,铝行情长期疲软,国外廉价铝锭大量进口,日本炼铝业经营状况极度恶化。昭和轻金属自去年年底至今累积亏损149亿日元以上,估计到9月末债务将超过资金总额 (180亿日元)。该公司虽采取措施于6月关闭了大町工厂,并与奥大利亚里奥廷托锌公司合并,却仍不见转机。为减少赤字,从8月起将喜多方工厂第二系列电解槽(66台槽年产能 Due to rising electricity bills, long-term weakness in the aluminum market and the massive import of cheap aluminum ingots abroad, the operating conditions in Japan’s aluminum refining industry have been extremely deteriorated. Showa Light Metals has accumulated a loss of more than 14.9 billion yen since the end of last year, and it is estimated that the debt will exceed the total amount of capital (180 billion yen) by the end of September. Although the company took steps to close the Omachi plant in June and merge with Rio Tinto’s zinc company in Austria, it still has not seen a turnaround. In order to reduce the deficit, the second series of electrolysis cells at Kitakata (from 66 units per year)